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78 Śramaņa, Vol 57, No. 2/April-June 2006
Apart from voluntary gifts from patients, physicians were paid by the state according to their merit and efficiency. They were liable to punishment if they committed mistakes or indulged in unethical practices, the severity of the punishment varying with the seriousness of the offence.20 Caraka also describes the malpractices of quacks and decries them in uncompromising terms. He considers them murderers in the guise of physicians, who introduce and spread diseases rather than curing them. They flourished because the government failed to curb them. (291:8).
Summary
It will be noticed that the above rules of moral conduct culled from various sources, aimed at making a physician not only a perfect physician but a perfect human being. Vagbhaṭṭa has briefly summarized the qualities of an ideal physician as follows: A physician must be steadfast, dignified, patient, truthful, good looking, well-read, master of his subject, and a knower of the effect of time. He should honour the teachers and treat the orphans and the sick as his children. He must visit the patient only when invited and with pure intentions. In the patient's house, he must pay attention only to the patient and to nothing else. He must thoroughly examine the patient, arrive at a diagnosis and plan the line of treatment. He must not disclose the secrets of the patient, must not waste time during emergency and must be capable of handling serious and urgent cases."
21
A physician has to be friendly to all, compassionate towards the suffering, pleased with tbe healthy, and indifferent towards the wicked.2 22
Qualities of the Nurses and Attendants
According to ancient Indian medicine, the patient, physicians medicine and nurse are the four limbs of medical treatment. (Caraka a, 9: 23). The ideal conditions for each of these four limbs to contribute the maximum are described in the ancient medical literature. We have already seen the qualities of a physician;
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